Betting News – Bookielink

Chris Christie has plenty to say about gambling legalisation. But is he right?

New Jersey's former governor spouted off about chances of legalisation in Texas and California last week. But he's way off the mark.

In an interview with Covers about the state of legal gambling in the US last week, the former New Jersey governor revealed that he is out of touch. Although he and his administration spearheaded the lawsuit that resulted in legal sports betting across the US, Christie would be wise to speak of what he knows.

Or as gaming consultant Brendan Bussmann said: “Texas and California are beasts unto their own and have their own political dynamics, which make them their own markets. This isn’t waving pixie dust on everything and making sports betting happen like one former governor seems to think.”

Christie’s comments about California showed clear ignorance about the state of gambling expansion in the biggest state in the nation. And about how gambling politics work there. Not once did he mention California’s tribes, which have exclusivity for gaming..

2 days ago

New Jersey igaming revenue record tumbles again in October

New Jersey reported a 2.6% year-on-year increase in gambling revenue during October, driven by another record breaking month for igaming.

Meanwhile, the Garden State’s sportsbook operators showed evidence of player-friendly NFL results hitting performance. Major operators have flagged this as a risk to fourth quarter revenue in their Q3 results.

Total gaming revenue in New Jersey across all channels and verticals was $499.8 million (£394.4 million/€472.5 million) in October. This exceeds last year’s $487.1 million monthly total but falls 10.5% short of $558.3 million in September this year.

Licensees paid $55.0 million in taxes for the month, with internet gaming again the main driver. It contributed $31.9 million to that total from a 15% gross revenue levy. Brick-and-mortar casinos (taxed at 8% of GGR) added a further $13.0 million, with $9.9 million and $194,771 coming from online (13% tax) and retail sports betting (8.5%) respectively.

Igaming revenue surpasses land-based casin..

2 days ago

DC attorney general said to be investigating Intralot contract

Intralot's Washington, DC lottery and sports betting contract is the subject of a new investigation from the District's attorney general's office, according to new reporting.

Axios cited anonymous sources today (18 November) in saying that attorney general Brian Schwalb’s office requested more information related to the contract last summer. It is unclear if the investigation centres around Intralot specifically or a subcontractor. Schwalb’s office does have the power to bring civil lawsuits against companies if applicable. But the exact motive of the investigation and timeline are unclear.

Greek-based Intralot has run the DC Lottery since 2009. In 2019 it was also awarded a controversial $215 million (£169.6 million/€203 million), no-bid contract to run online sports betting as well. The platform it rolled out, GambetDC, never lived up to expectations. The app performed extremely poorly, both in terms of usability and revenue projections.

In early March, DC’s Offi..

3 days ago

Weekend Report: Paddy Power customers turning to NFL betting, Evolution edges closer to Galaxy Gaming acquisition

Welcome to the Weekend Report, where iGB looks at the news that you may have missed across Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This week: NFL popularity on the rise among Paddy Power customers, Evolutions moves closer to Galaxy Gaming acquisition and Victoria launches Gambling Harm Awareness Week.

NFL betting popularity on the rise with Paddy Power

First, Paddy Power has revealed increasing interest in NFL betting. American football is now the third most popular of all sports among customers in the UK and Ireland.

Data from the operator shows only football and horse racing have been more popular than the NFL in 2024. This is in contrast to 2021 when NFL ranked seventh in popularity, also behind golf, boxing, rugby union and darts.

In the past year, the NFL jumped from fifth to third on the most popular sports list at Paddy Power. The operator puts this down to several reasons including better coverage on television and an improved offering on its own sportsbook.

“Organic growth in NFL i..

3 days ago

Illinois sports betting revenue reaches record $136.4 million in September

Sports betting revenue in Illinois hit an all-time monthly high of $136.4 million (£108.1m million/€129.4 million) during September, while the Prairie state fell just short of setting a new handle record.

Players spent a total of $1.31 billion betting on sports during September, which marked the NFL season kick-off. This is 21.5% more than September 2023 and 49.2% ahead of August this year. However, it missed the all-time state record – $1.38 billion in November 2023 – by 4.7%.

Online spend for the month amounted to $1.27 billion, with retail handle coming to $34.9 million. The Board said professional sports drew the most bets at $1.12 billion, with college sports at $177.1 million, motor racing $753,685 and other sports $5.3 million.

Adjusted gross revenue (AGR) was 58.6% higher than September last year and also 130.4% above August this year. It narrowly surpassed the existing Illinois monthly record – $135.2 million in January this year – by 0.9%.

Figures from the Illinois Gaming..

3 days ago

LatAm Q3 results round-up: Brazil betting launch dominates discussions

With the majority of the gambling industry having published their Q3 results, iGB looks at how operators fared in the region and their plans for the future there.

Brazil will launch its legal betting market on 1 January 2025 and one operator that is hoping to make a real dent in the market is the giant Flutter Entertainment.

Back in September, Flutter announced it had agreed to acquire an initial 56% stake in NSX Group, which operates the Brazil-facing Betnacional brand. The deal is worth $350 million (£266.5 million/€316.0 million).

For the nine months ending 30 September, Flutter reported year-on-year revenue growth in Brazil of 4%. In its earnings call following the Q3 results release, CFO Rob Coldrake spoke of the operator’s excitement for the market opening.

“We’re very confident about our approach in Brazil,” Coldrake told reporters. “We’ve grown with our brands that we’ve got there already. We’re very excited about the NSX acquisition.”

The NSX acquisition will create a new..

November 15, 2024

State of the Union: New Jersey to ban college props? Polymarket under fire and more

Welcome to iGB's State of the Union, a look at the biggest North American sports betting stories we've covered over the week and briefs on others we found interesting.

New Jersey bill would ban college-player props

Yesterday (14 November) New Jersey’s house tourism, gaming and the arts committee moved forward a bill that would ban betting college-player prop bets. The bill is likely in response to the NCAA’s campaign to get all US states to ban such bets.

But wagering operators have long argued that banning any kind of bet will only send bettors to the black market. That will take money away from companies and states. And it also puts consumers at risk.

“Player propositions are available on illegal and offshore sportsbooks and removing customers’ ability to place legal wagers will deter bettors from moving to the regulated market,” American Gaming Association SVP of strategic communications Joe Maloney told iGB in May.

Thirteen US states ban betting on college-player p..

November 15, 2024

Philippines gambling revenue up 37.5% in Q3 on online growth

Gross gambling revenue in the Philippines increased 37.5% year-on-year in Q3 after a near-five-fold uptick within the online sector offset declines across the land-based market.

Data published yesterday (14 November) by the Philippines Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) shows revenue hit PHP94.61 billion (£1.27 billion/€1.53 billion/$1.61 billion) during Q3. This is clear of the PHP68.79 billion reported last year and 2.7% higher than Q2 this year.

The stand-out result in Q3 was the PHP35.71 billion generated from electronic (or online) gaming, a rise of 465.0%. The Philippines electronic gaming market covers activities such as online casino, sports betting, bingo and specialty games.

Pagcor chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco talked up the “phenomenal” increase. He said he expects the sector to continue to grow and reach its end-of-year PHP100 billion revenue target in 2024.

“This impressive performance is a strong indication that the use of modern technology and mobile gadge..

November 15, 2024

Here are the sports betting platforms that already have Missouri market access

Those in Missouri will finally get a chance to bet on sports after voters approved a legal digital and retail sports betting initiative on 5 November. And every major operator already has some sort of existing relationship with a casino or professional sports team in the state.

Missouri’s new law requires that sports betting go live by 1 December 2025. Given that the state has an existing casino industry, it could launch sooner. And Jan Zimmerman, chair of the Missouri Gaming Commission (MGC) says the rules promulgation process has already started.

“Our folks are writing the rules and regulations as we speak,” Zimmeran told KFVS 12 on 12 November.

Zimmerman didn’t reveal a projected launch date or when rules might be available for review. But the MGC meets at the end of each month, usually around the 25th. The agenda and date for the November meeting are not posted yet. Once the process starts, it’s likely that the commission will first approve an application and open that process…

November 14, 2024

Will Tyson-Paul fight be the real deal?

Pennsylvania, Colorado and Vermont won’t approve wagering and for good reason.

I have been covering the sport of boxing professionally for 27 years and, as crazy as it is to type these words, Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson is, in some regards, the biggest boxing match of that entire span.

The viewing audience for Friday night’s fight from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, will be enormous – not nearly on par with a Super Bowl, but quite possibly equal to the next-biggest sporting event on the list.

And so, in turn, the betting interest is humongous. Even people who’ve never watched Paul box in any of his 11 professional bouts, or who weren’t alive the last time Tyson held a major heavyweight title, seem to have strong conviction as to whether the 27-year-old neophyte is going to get the better of the 58-year-old living legend. Or if the former “Baddest Man on the Planet” is going to butcher the former Disney Channel star.

There are three states, however, that regulate sports betting but w..

November 14, 2024

Q3 online growth fails to offset continued land-based decline in Sweden

Gambling revenue in Sweden hit SEK6.66 billion (£477 million/€574 million/$605 million) in Q3, with growth in the igaming segment failing to offset declines in land-based.

Revenue was 1.3% behind the SEK6.74 billion recorded during Q3 of 2023, Sweden regulator Spelinspektionen reports.

The figure also falls 3.4% short of SEK6.89 billion in Q2 of this year. On top of this, Q3 revenue was the lowest quarterly total since SEK6.58 billion was reported in Sweden in Q1 2023.

Commercial online gambling remains the primary source of gambling revenue in the country by some distance. During Q3, SEK4.33 billion of revenue was reported for this segment, a year-on-year increase of 1.5%. This includes internet-based casino and sports betting activity.

Land-based declines hit Sweden in Q3

However, declines were reported across almost all other sectors of the market. Revenue was down in many core land-based segments, with Svenska Spel’s Casino Cosmopol hit with a 76.5% revenue decline to SEK31 mi..

November 14, 2024

Betting with benefits banned in Brazil pending final approval

Minister for Brazil's Federal Supreme Court Luis Fux has filed an injunction to ban betting via Brazil's Bolsa Familia social welfare cheque. The measure will be put to an emergency session of the Brazilian chamber of deputies today with plans to enforce it effective immediately.

The decision was made after a two-day hearing at the Federal Supreme Court (STF), initiated on Monday 12 November, sought to investigate the impacts of betting in Brazil and determine whether the law governing the upcoming legal market is constitutional.

The STF hearing was called following a request from Brazil’s third biggest trade union, the National Confederation of Trade in Goods, Services and Tourism (CNC), filed an ADI (Ação Direta de Inconstitucionalidade) which is a legal action in Brazil intended to overturn a law that conflicts with the country’s Constitution.

Brazil’s betting sector, which is preparing to receive initial licences shortly, has faced significant backlash from politicia..

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